This is a guest post I wrote for Thyroid Nation.com:
My parents divorced when I was 3 years old and my coping mechanism was turning to food. By 6 years old I was pretty chunky and was going to Weight Watchers with my stepmom. I was a yo-yo dieter in high school living on Diet Cokes and Lean Cuisines. In college I let it all hang out with late night pizza and beer busts, reaching my highest weight of 240. After graduating I went on a low fat, calorie-counting diet and lost 90 pounds. I moved to San Francisco and decided to become a personal trainer so I could help other people lose weight. Everything went well for a while and I was looking good, which was all that mattered to me at the time. Over time I became more interested in nutrition and adopted a vegetarian diet so I could be “environmentally responsible”. While I was at it I thought why not up the ante and start running marathons. After adopting more running and a plant based diet the wheels started to fall off and I was not feeling at all like myself. I needed a pot of coffee just to get out of bed in the morning, I became obsessed with sleeping constantly and my digestion was way off track.
At my yearly physical I asked about my symptoms and the doctor ordered several thyroid tests at my request. Instead of relying on that physician to interpret the findings I had the good sense to take it to a friend who is a naturopathic doctor. My naturopath saw all the lab numbers and decided to prescribed a dessicated thyroid medication. She told me that because I had high antibodies, it was a thyroid condition called Hashimoto’s. In a few weeks I felt a huge difference in my energy and then I was able to focus on diet (I follow this one) and lifestyle changes to continue the healing process. You can read more of my story health journey here. In the past 5 years I have learned so much about taking care of myself and my thyroid issues. I want to help anyone reading this not make the same mistakes I did.
7 Things I Learned on My Thyroid Disease Journey (read the rest here)
Update:
Today I live in Nashville with my husband in our new house near my beloved family. I am still in the process of healing and I have been able to bring my antibodies way down. I take a compounded T-3/ T-4 medication and have very few symptoms. Climbing out of stage 3 adrenal fatigue was a long process but now my energy is much better. I have to remember everyday not to push myself too hard and to do my self-care routine. I have been able to find a healthy weight without much stress and have a job I love working from home at GrassfedGirl.com. You can subscribe to my newsletter here so you never miss a recipe, article or podcast. Thanks so much for reading and I hope these tips help you on your journey to optimal thyroid health.
I was recently on the Thyroid nation radio show and I shared what I have learned about my journey. Listen here.
Other helpful Thyroid posts from Grass Fed Girl:
- 5 Things Your Doctor Won’t Tell You About Your Thyroid
- Top 10 Nutritional Tips to Support Underactive Thyroid Problems
- 10 Habits that Contributed to My Hypothyroidism
Caitlin Weeks grew up eating southern comfort food in Nashville while battling the bulge. After college she lost weight on a conventional low fat diet with extreme cardio exercise. In 2010 she was diagnosed with Hashimotos thyroiditis, which led her re-think her diet. In an effort to heal she started to follow an ancestral Paleo diet, which is higher in healthy fats, pastured meats and lower in refined carbs.
She is a certified nutrition consultant, holistic lifestyle coach, owner of Grassfedgirl.com and bestselling author of Mediterranean Paleo Cooking. She also has 7 years experience working as a personal trainer. Caitlin believes in the mind-body connection, using EFT in her healing journey. Caitlin wants to help her readers find natural solutions to support their healthy lifestyles.
